GoodReads: A System for Organizing Books

I am hooked on the website GoodReads for keeping track of all the books I read. The site will also work for students who are avid readers. In addition to students using the website as a way to keep track of books they have read, it also encourages them to write and to communicate with others about their reading.

GoodReads is free and you can keep recorded information as private as you want.

This is what I like about GoodReads:

• I can list all the books I have read and rate each on a scale of one to five. I can also list books I want to read in the future.
• I can list the dates on which I start and finish each book.
• I can easily access a summary of a book or information on the author. This is good, because sometimes I can’t immediately recall the theme of a book if I read it several years ago.
• I can record anything I want about the book. Sometimes, I find it helpful to write down meaningful quotations or passages. Sometimes, I just want to remember a particular impression I had, or cite what I learned from the book. I can also write my own review of the book.
• By clicking on the title of a book I’ve read, I can see comments that others have made after reading it themselves and click again to see threads of discussion about the book. I can also rate the reviews of others.

For those who like to organize information, this is a great way to do it. The books I read become my friends, and when I go back years later and review some of the things I have written, the words bring back warm memories.

If I choose to become “friends” with others on GoodReads, I receive an email when my “friends” post books they have just finished or when they have reviewed a book. This allows me to keep up with the interests of others.

A group of readers can be formed by a parent or teacher to discuss books read in class or through a homeschool group. GoodReads is one way to be able to organize and voice opinions outside of class.

Click on “Groups” and enter a search word. You will find a group to follow for just about any interest you can think of that has to do with reading. There are also groups for aspiring writers.